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PaintingsDIRECT: Does your Mexican heritage consciously play a part in your work?
Ricardo Gonzalez: Yes, I think artists obviously get their ideas and attitude from the environment they come from and live in, and you can see this throughout art history. My themes and style have formed from what attracts me to my surroundings; and my natural way of being has a lot to do with the Mexican way of life. I’m also interested in Mexican view[s] of mortality and ways of finding joy.

If I Should Fear A Strange Enemy
(1997)

Time
(2000)

PD: Did your experience in the US induce any physical or ideological aspects of your painting practice?
RG: For a while I missed home a lot, which was the place that produced the most ideas for me. My neighborhood in the US wasn’t a place with much character, so I read a lot to keep interesting images and new ideas coming. As far as ideological changes, lifestyle and views of life in the US are different from [those in] Mexico, so the move broadened my ideas and also helped me understand Mexico better, since I was seeing it from afar. I also found great museums and art collections in the US. One thing I realized was that the winter traps you in your room, so it was a good time to paint a lot, but then you have to go outside. I had never experienced the severe cold and darkness and how it really can make people’s attitude very negative and distant.

PD: Who is Jose Luis Sanchez Rull? What was your experience with him?
RG: He is a great painter in Mexico whom I met when I was in high school. I took some classes with him, and we became good friends. He made me realize that art wasn’t all just pretty flowers and decorations for your wall…that you could actually make people realize things about life, about other people, and about themselves, and have it really hit them inside. He introduced me to German expressionist art. I was amazed [at] what art could be, and I knew I had so many ideas to let out.

Before that, I never really liked art that much and thought it was kind of dull, because, in school I was never exposed to the kind of art that I am interested in now. Jose Luis gave me a deep look at all the artists and writers that went along with what I was naturally interested in. I still visit his studio regularly and exchange a lot of ideas. He is still one of my favorite painters because of his themes and his attitude towards painting.

If I Could See Your Light's Spectrum
(1998)

Interview continued...
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